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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27874209">Hero? No. Doctor? Who.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outcasts_Anonymous/pseuds/Outcasts_Anonymous'>Outcasts_Anonymous</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bakugou Katsuki is a Dork, Bakugou Katsuki is an All Might Stan, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Gen, Midoriya Izuku is Not a Hero, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Midoriya Izuku is a Little Shit, Midoriya Izuku is a Nerd, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Midoriya Izuku is a Whovian, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Soft Bakugou Katsuki, at times - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 11:40:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,819</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27874209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outcasts_Anonymous/pseuds/Outcasts_Anonymous</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I can feel it: the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at 1,000 miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... That's who I am." Midoriya muttered, glancing to his right; his face a mask of pure seriousness as he locked eyes with the boy who once was his brother.</p>
<p>Bakugou met his mask of seriousness with a look of his own, though where one might have expected awe or anger to shine in his eyes, instead the boy met Midoriya's eyes with a crying exasperation. His hair was dishevelled; his uniform a mess, and his arms hung limp by his side.</p>
<p>"Deku," Bakugou began. "Midoriya; Izuku, please; I am /begging/ you; shut the fuck up- /please!/"</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Or, what might have happened if Midoriya grew up a Whovian and not an All Might stan.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatsume Mei/Midoriya Izuku</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>114</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I,,, I don't know,,, what happened,,,</p>
<p>This was meant to be  f u n n y  why is it serious???</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I don't want to be the next All Might, Kacchan; I don't even want to be a <em>hero</em>... I want to be the next <em>Doctor</em>." The world around them was quiet, save for the creaking of the old metal swing chains- and the sky was a shade of blue so deep one would have thought it black; stars paining the universe like freckles being the only real source of light this night, the moon hidden away behind the clouds.</p>
<p>They were talking; for the first time in <em>years</em> they were talking- and for as much as Bakugou had felt he would despise this moment; would have thought that his very core would be alight with a burning rage hot enough to outshine the sun at this moment, he instead found himself calmer than he had been in... well... <em>years</em>. When the time finally came; he found himself <em>enjoying</em> it.</p>
<p>"You'd still have to get into UA, you know that right? Maybe even the hero course..." For the first time since Bakugou had gotten his quirk, Midoriya had beaten him. Not through overpowering him; not through getting someone else to fight his battles for him, but simply by using his mind; by being 'The Doctor', as Midoriya had put it himself. He wouldn't ever admit it out loud; hell, if someone were to probe his mind for the information, he'd give himself brain damage to avoid them finding out... but he had to admit, Midoriya <em>had</em> impressed him.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I guessed as much..." The boy sighed, his eyes falling to the floor.</p>
<p>Bakugou had never really understood what Midoriya meant when he said he didn't want to be a hero; what he meant when he said he wanted to be 'The Doctor' instead, but how could he have? They'd been literal children the last time they'd spoken about it. The Doctor was a hero, wasn't he? Sure he can't shoot lasers out of his eyes, or level buildings with a punch, but he stops bad guys; that makes him a hero, right?</p>
<p>He had been too young at the time, to realise that he'd missed the point.</p>
<p>"-And that centuries-old toy in your pocket isn't gonna help you do that." With a start, Midoriya's attention jumped back up to his old friend- and giving Bakugou the same, dopy smile that he'd been giving him for as long as the two could remember, albeit this time a tired one, Midoriya slowed the already barely-moving swing to a halt as he fished around the inside pocket of his opened gakuran. </p>
<p>Following his lead, opposite him, Bakugou slowed his own swing; letting the bottoms of his trainers drag along the ground until he was no longer moving.</p>
<p>Eventually, Midoriya procured what he had been searching for, and brought forth into the cold night air the toy Bakugou had been referencing. It was the tenth Doctor's screwdriver, or again, a toy replica. Midoriya had had it for years, you could tell; it was worn in a way that allowed his fingers to wrap around it perfectly; as if it were moulded specifically for him. Slipping his thumb up the front extended the Sonic, and a finger-press to the toy's side filled the no-longer quiet night with a soothing buzz.</p>
<p>"It's got me this far..." He shrugged.</p>
<p>Mustering the best 'are you serious' look he could, Bakugou returned his attention to Midoriya, who in all fairness, had enough self-awareness to look sheepishly off to the side; letting the Sonic fall silent between them before letting his arm fall slowly.</p>
<p>"That's because you're good at bullshitting, Deku; you spout enough techno-babble at people, they'll believe anything you say just because they don't wanna look like a bunch of fucking idiots- but the hero course exam pits you up against robots. You try spouting techno-babble at robots and they'll fucking run you over because why in the fuck would they have any reason to listen to you? Hell, they <em>can't</em> listen to you; they're <em>robots</em>." A car drove past the park as another lull developed in their conversation; the first car they had seen in a while, and with that car came the reminder that both boys didn't have much longer out here before their parents came looking for them.</p>
<p>Admittedly, due to all of the lulls in their conversation, despite having been out here for hours by this point the two hadn't spoken much about anything. And as frustrating as it was, both knew it was just something they were going to have to deal with. The only way they were going to move past the lulls in conversations, and the awkward pauses after sentences was if they went over and talked about the years of bad blood between them- and both would tell you that right now that was not something either of them wanted to do.</p>
<p>"Look, Deku..." Bakugou sighed. "Today... Today doesn't change anything, okay? Just because you managed to beat me doesn't mean I've changed my mind about thinking you can be a hero. You can't. You just... you <em>can't</em>. You're <em>weak</em>, and <em>quirkless</em>, and you can't <em>fight</em> to save your life; if you were to go into that entrance exam in ten months time and try to be a hero, you would die quicker than All Might can <em>move</em>..." Bakugou watched on as Midoriya began to tear up, and with a grimace decided to bite the bullet; to take this weird day and twist it into one even weirder.</p>
<p>"...But..." With the speed at which Midoriya's head shot up to look at him, Bakugou could have sworn he gave himself whiplash. "...I think if you went into that exam in ten months time, and tried to be the <em>Doctor</em>... you might just make it... A hero... A hero would charge at those robots head first and break them to pieces, but the Doctor? The Doctor would figure out how to take all of those things down without them even seeing him, yeah? He'd think outside the box or some shit..." It was when Bakugou had finished his awkward attempt at a motivational speech, and he tore his gaze from the road back over to Midoriya, that he noticed how the boy in question was looking at him; eyes as wide as saucers; unshed tears clinging to them- and a smile on his face that made Bakugou feel like he was the most important thing in the universe.</p>
<p>It was disgusting... but he couldn't bring himself to tell him to stop.</p>
<p>Standing abruptly from the swing, Bakugou stretched out his arms and his shoulders, before roughly readjusting his own opened gakuran until it felt comfortable over said shoulders. He'd have to buy a new one soon, if he kept gaining muscle at the rate he was. He paused for a moment as he thought about it; zoning out ever so slightly until all of the restless energy his abrupt stand had generated phased out into the night, before letting out one final quiet sigh.</p>
<p>"Anyway, I've said what I wanna say; I'm getting the fuck outta' here. See you around, Doctor Deku..." He grumbled, glancing once more over to Midoriya, before quickly turning tail and not-so-subtly speed-walking out of the park.</p>
<p>Midoriya watched all the way as he left, and disappeared into the darkness towards his house; his smile dimmed to one much more serene. The two of them weren't okay; they still had a lot of shit they needed to address, but this was a start. Bakugou might not think he could become a hero, but Midoriya didn't care; he'd been telling Bakugou since they were young that he didn't <em>want</em> to be a hero. But Bakugou thought he <em>could</em> be the Doctor- and to Midoriya, that meant everything.</p>
<p>When Bakugou was finally, well and truly out of sigh, Midoriya turned his attention to the screwdriver in his hand; a pensive look developing on his face as he thought about what Bakugou had said.</p>
<p>"Robots, huh?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't that much longer after Bakugou left that Midoriya too chose to head home. It was late after all, and if he was going to come up with a plan to get him through the UA Entrance Exam, then he needed to be in tip-top shape both mentally <em>and</em> physically. And while mentally, he'll probably never truly be 'okay', his physical condition <em>was</em> something he could improve.</p><p>He was honestly surprised he hadn't nodded off yet, really; today had been a long and tiring day after all- but time waits for no man, unlike his mother who had been waiting for his father to come home for 15 years too many.</p><p>Wow, okay, <em>that</em> was dark- where the hell had <em>that</em> come from? Maybe spending so much time around Bakugou <em>wasn't</em> as good of an idea as he had initially thought.</p><p>Letting out a yawn as he finally reached his floor of the apartment `block, Midoriya couldn't help the slight smile he got at seeing the lights on; his mother's silhouette visible through the kitchen blinds as she prepared tea. It probably wasn't the vibe that his home should give off, but when coming back late at night, their home almost felt like a diner, if that made sense? Like, a late night diner; the kind you would see in cheesy cop films that had the sterile artificial lights that'd strain your eyes, and the cracked coffee pot that was always steaming.</p><p>It was a weird vibe, but Midoriya couldn't say he hated it.</p><p>Twisting the knob, Midoriya pushed the door inwards, and from further into the apartment he could hear his mother startle for the briefest of moments, probably having been lost in her own head.</p><p>"Mom, I'm home!" Slipping off his shoes and hanging up his gakuran, it was Midoriya's turn this time to be startled, as when he turned back to continue his way through the hallway to the rest of the apartment, he found his mother stood in the way; blocking him from the living room, and by proxy, the rest of the house.</p><p>With an aborted yell, Midoriya clutched a hand to his chest- and through his attempts to catch his breath, both Midoriyas couldn't help but laugh.</p><p>"Sorry sweetie," Inko offered, however Midoriya was quick to wave her off.</p><p>"It's fine; I just wasn't expecting it s'all. What's up?" At this, Inko's smile seemed to fade away into something a little more stern, and caught off guard by the quick mood shift, Midoriya's smile also faded- and if only out of reflex, he stood that little bit straighter; it wasn't often, after all, that his mother was cross.</p><p>"Izuku, listen... I'm not going to ask why you had over thirty empty cans of military-grade anti-perspirant in your room, <em>nor</em> am I going to ask why Mitsuki called me earlier to ask me to tell you 'good job'- but you really need to learn to clean up after yourself. I don't care if your <em>own</em> room is a mess since that's <em>your</em> room, but when your little projects start leaking out into the <em>rest</em> of the house it gets annoying cleaning them up all the time..." Ah, yeah, that was fair enough he supposed. He thought he'd actually done something seriously wrong for a second there.</p><p>"Yeah, you're right, sorry; I was just really excited about my latest project- but, um... <em>thanks</em>, y'know, for not asking." Inko's stern look shifted back into her usual motherly smile as she gave her son a slight nod, and though she looked like she wanted to say more, after a few seconds instead wandered back off into the kitchen; opening up the rest of the apartment.</p><p>Being quick to saunter through, Midoriya headed straight for his room; the tv in the living room, though being on and playing what looked to be the latest All Might movie; the one he hadn't seen yet, only briefly making him consider changing destinations. He grinned as he approached the pair of TARDIS doors his mother had installed for him, and after pushing through them and locking them behind him, Midoriya made a b-line for his desk chair.</p><p>Letting his yellow backpack fall to the ground, he practically collapsed down into it, spinning around a few times before coming to a stop facing his computer system. Pulling himself closer to his desk, he wiggled around the mouse resting there, and in response all three of his monitors lit up with that morning's browsings. With his off-hand, he also made sure to grab the fez resting on to opposite side of the desk; placing it carefully on his head.</p><p>"Right then, the Hero Course Entrance Exam uses robots, but the question is: what kind," Midoriya mused, speaking aloud to himself as he pulled his keyboard to rest in his lap. "A simple electro-magnetic bomb should take care of one, but the question is: how strong? I also need to know how they <em>think</em>; if they're tied to a hive-mind, or if they're self-learning and run independent of each other..." His fingers were like blurs as they sped across the keys.</p><p>"-But all information about the exam is kept confidential, except for the fact that they do, in fact, use robots. So how do I find these things out? Simple..." Dragging the Chrome window he was using to full-size on his right-hand monitor; covering up the two hero analysis blogs he already had open there, Midoriya made his way onto Facebook.</p><p>"UA wants to keep the contents of the exam as confidential as possible, but the people taking the exam are going to be children- and though the threat of a lawsuit hangs over their heads, at the end of the day if one of those children decides to leak information about the exam, it's not like UA can <em>actually</em> sue them; it'd be a P.R Nightmare..." Facebook's search bar blinked back at him as Midoriya froze his typing.</p><p>"It's the threat alone that keeps information about the exam from leaking, but threats only work if people believe in them. I need to find a teenager with a hate-boner for UA so strong they don't care about potentially being sued, and just want to get back at them. So... I'm looking for a teenager that has one foot in the world of villainy, who would have been reckless enough to record their experiences in the exam..." Midoriya let his fingers rest gently against the keys.</p><p>"And they need to be just a year or two older than me... This might take a while..." He had ten months in total to get a plan together, and he could only dedicate about three of those to actually finding that footage. In an ideal world, the robots would all run on a hive-mind system, and that hive-mind would run from a local server somewhere within the exam grounds- but life isn't a fairy tale; one day it'll be his job to make it so, but right now he just has to work with what he's given.</p><p>Opening another two Chrome windows, one for his centre monitor and one for his left, Midoriya brought up Amazon on the left one, and in the centre, started a Google search for 'How to make an Electromagnetic Bomb'. In all fairness that was probably going to get him put on a list of some kind, but if that happens- as Bakugou has so elegantly put it earlier- he can just bullshit his way out of it...</p><p>Though just to be safe, Midoriya added a quick 'but chill tho it's for a class' onto the end of his search.</p><p>With that taken care of, he returned to the window with Facebook open and began his <em>main</em> search. Unsurprisingly, searching up 'UA Entrance Exam footage' yielded no results, or at least none of any value. The post at the very top was from UA's official Facebook page, and it was a post just warning people about the confidentiality of the exam; an additional note at the bottom urging people who <em>have</em> seen footage of the exam to report it both to Facebook and to them.</p><p>And the posts below that were from the personal accounts of other would-be students asking for the same thing he himself was looking for. If he looked hard enough, Midoriya could probably find a UA blacklist document with their names on it, the idiots.</p><p>Ha, one of them was named 'Micky'; how fitting.</p><p>Moving back up to the search bar, Midoriya decided to try a different approach.</p><p>"UA... Bastard... Unfair..." He mumbled aloud; entering a series key words.</p><p>This... was a much more hopeful approach. This time, there were no corporate accounts, or at least none linked directly to UA, and ignoring all of the results from news sites and controversy pages, the rest of the posts were all from personal accounts.</p><p>Midoriya brought a hand up to rub at his face as his eyes caught a particularly long post. It wasn't what he was looking for, not by a long shot, but it still looked to be an interesting read; the ramblings of a kid just like him, who had seen how flawed the system is and wanted to do something about it, but couldn't. Though, any enjoyment he could've gleamed from the post was quickly soured, just as his expression, as he got to the fourth paragraph.</p><p>"...I was on board with the message until you quoted Hitler..."</p><p>Continuing to scroll, it would take Midoriya twenty to thirty more pages, as well as several changes to the searched key words, before he would find another post that caught his eye. Getting comfortable, as in cocking his feet up on his desk, just off to the side, he clicked to open the girl's profile.</p><p>She hadn't posted anything since the post that had caught Midoriya's attention, and she didn't have anyone friended either. She seemed like a... relatively normal girl, albeit with a slightly unhealthy obsession with someone who he guessed was a classmate? Ignoring the post that had caught his attention for a moment, he scrolled further down the page- though the further he got, the more creeped out he became; collages of pictures being posted that looked more like ransom notes than anything else being commonplace on her timeline.</p><p>Not wanting to fall any deeper down the rabbit hole, he caught the 'home' button on his keyboard, and shot back up to the top of the page; finally focusing on the post that drew him to the girl's page in the first place.</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>I'll never forgive UA for taking my senpai away from me! How dare they! It's totally not cute at all! Mirha, please, don't go! I'll never forgive you if you go! I tired to follow you but their stupid exam isn't suited to my quirk! I could be a great hero; we could be a hero duo! I'd be super stealthy; I can literally turn into anyone! They handy capped me by taking my super cute knives; you shouldn't go; don't leave me!</p>
</blockquote><p>"...Himiko Toga, huh? Doesn't seem like the type to have recorded her attempt, but she certainly has a big enough hate-boner... I'll put her on the back-burner..." The sound of a notification pinging echoed around Midoriya's room as he bookmarked the girl's page, however his expression turned into one of confusion when he realised it wasn't a Facebook one.</p><p>It was an Instagram notification; someone had tagged him in something.</p><p>Still with an expression of confusion, Midoriya turned his attention to his left-most monitor and quickly minimised the Amazon window; opening up the Instagram app in it's place to see what was going on. No one ever interacted with his Instagram, and he'd turned off all of the other notifications besides the ones relating to interactivity, so he knew it couldn't be anything else.</p><p>It took a moment for the app to load, but when it did, his confusion didn't alleviate.</p><p>Someone had tagged him in a video.</p><p>Opening it, he found himself paling. It would seem as if more people had seen his and Bakugou's little fight than he had thought. The video was unbearably shaky, as whoever was filming was running after him- and he knew why. This was a video of his victory over Bakugou, or at the very least it was the build-up to it.</p><p>He had taken a page out of the Doctor's diary when it came to planning his fight against Bakugou; his plan mimicking the Doctor's own plan to beat the Skovox Blitzer; enticing Bakugou to follow him as he ran through the school's corridors- however instead of luring him with a screwdriver, he was just focused on sprinting as fast as he possibly could. He had led Bakugou all around the school in an effort to tire the blond out, and though he hadn't noticed them, apparently whoever was filming had been following him as well. </p><p>Midoriya's end destination had been the roof, and he had chosen that destination because no one other than him ever went there. He didn't want his defeat of Bakugou to be this big thing; he just wanted it to be something that happened; something that only the two of them knew about. Bakugou was a prideful person; he was the king of the school pretty much; if Midoriya defeated him in front of everyone then Bakugou would never be able to live it down; he'd be a laughing stock.</p><p>He had wanted his defeat of Bakugou to just be something that happened; he didn't want to destroy Bakugou's whole social life. That would have just been cruel- and being cruel went against the very essence of being the Doctor. Never be cruel, and never be cowardly- and when you are, <em>always</em> make amends; <em>that...</em> is what it means to be the Doctor.</p><p>Pausing the video before it could finish, he found himself staring at the frozen image of himself using an industrial-sized bucket to chuck a gallons worth of anti-perspirant at a shocked Bakugou; the baseball bat he had used to... <em>tenderize</em> his... friend..? Lying in the very corner of the frame.</p><p>A part of him wanted to say Bakugou was getting what was coming to him, really; that he deserved what was going to happen because of this video- after all, he was a pretty huge asshole. But, at the end of the day, no one deserves <em>this</em>. Sure, Bakugou was an ass to him, but it wasn't like he relentlessly bullied him or anything.</p><p>With a sigh, Midoriya closed out of the app without liking the video. At the end of the day, what's done is done; he couldn't change the past, or at least, he couldn't yet. He just had to hope Bakugou could take shit as well as he could dish it out.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The door to the roof flew open abruptly and violently, banging harshly against the plastered brick wall as Bakugou stormed through it; uniform drenched and eye twitching. Completely unphased, Midoriya glanced over his shoulder from where he sat to look at him, however when Bakugou made no move to attack him, he was quick to return to wrapping the copper wire in his hand around the metal spool held in his other hand. </p><p>"Twelve times..." Bakugou growled, slamming the roof door closed. "Twelve <em>fucking</em> times..." Again looking over his shoulder, the two locked eyes- and for the briefest of moments Bakugou's anger shifted to confusion when he noticed Midoriya was holding a soldering iron in his mouth, however quickly dismissed it with a shake of his head; too exhausted to question it.</p><p>"I'd try to kick the shit out of you for causing this but I <em>really</em> don't wanna get drenched a <em>thirteenth</em> time today..." Midoriya couldn't help but snort at that, causing Bakugou's glare to intensify.</p><p>"Well it's not <em>entirely</em> my fault; I was a little too busy running for my <em>life</em> to notice we'd picked up a camera man, wasn't I?" Midoriya sassed, having let the metal spool rest in his lap in order to pull the iron from his mouth. Just as he turned away from Bakugou to actually use the iron however, he sniffed twice, and turned back to his friend even quicker than he had before; a smug, teasing grin plastered over his face.</p><p>"Hang on, that's just <em>water</em> isn't it? It's not even anti-perspirant; it's just <em>plain</em> water!" Bakugou couldn't glare harder if he tried.</p><p>"Yup, just plain ol' water... and the tears of those that thought their plan was going to <em>work</em>," Midoriya's smug grin shrunk back down to a standard amused one, and as Bakugou finally moved to approach him, Midoriya turned back to the project in his lap, and finally continued on with his soldering.</p><p>"So the fuck are you doing up here anyway? Some nerd shit?" Tossing his bag at Midoriya's, Bakugou lowered himself onto the concrete opposite him with a sigh; looking over Midoriya's project appraisingly, as if he had any fucking clue what it actually was.</p><p>"You know, using 'nerd' as an insult doesn't really work when you yourself go to bed at eight, Kacchan..." Bakugou merely rolled his eyes, and as he did, Midoriya sighed.</p><p>"This," He started, gesturing to his work, "Is how I plan on getting into the Hero course. It's not much, but even if my plan fails, if I rock up with something like this? And it works? I'm guaranteed at <em>least</em> an interview for the Support Course."</p><p>"Contingencies, I like it- but I was asking what it actually <em>is.</em>" Midoriya's head once again shot up to stare at Bakugou; surprised. He didn't remember the last time he had ever taken an interest in something Midoriya was doing, unless it was to embarrass him about it.</p><p>"I- wel- uh," He stammered. "It's, um, an EMP- or, well, I suppose an EM<em>B</em>; electromagnetic bomb. This is just a prototype; I visited Dagobah last week for the parts, but, basically- if I stick this to one of the robots in the exam it should completely shut it down." Bakugou nodded quietly; a small grunt of affirmation being the only indicator that he had heard him.</p><p>"How do you know it'll be strong enough?" He piped up again, after having watched Midoriya work for a few minutes. The boy in question paused at the question; the soldering iron hovering over the wire for a few seconds, before with both a sigh and a grimace, Midoriya placed the two items on the floor on either side of him.</p><p>"I <em>don't</em>. I've been looking around for footage of the exam, or for blueprints of the robots themselves but everything's locked down tight. I have one lead; I plan on following up on it tonight, but if that leads to a dead-end? I might just have to make the EMB pump out as much radiation as I can..."</p><p>"Then why don't you?" Bakugou prompted, for once <em>genuinely</em> curious.</p><p>"...Because it's <em>radiation</em>, Kacchan; you don't have to be a genius to figure out that an abundance of radiation, no matter the kind, is <em>dangerous</em>. Plus, to take anything into the Hero Course exam that <em>doesn't</em> count as something you'd carry around in your every day life, you need to fill out a form- and given that an EMB would class as a <em>support</em> item, there are additional safety laws that need to be abided by." Again, Bakugou gave Midoriya another quiet nod; this time following up the action by angrily ripping open and then taking off his gakuran, before throwing it at the two boy's bags.</p><p>The offending garment landed with a squelch, and Midoriya couldn't help but cringe at the sight of it. </p><p>"So, this lead you got, anything worth my time?" Bakugou asked, looking away from both Midoriya <em>and</em> the project; suddenly finding the unremarkably bland skyline to be one of the most interesting sights in the world. Midoriya's face twisted into a look of disbelief, and the boy himself let out an accidental scoff as he turned back to Bakugou; almost waiting for the boy to blurt out the word 'sike', however when that didn't happen, Midoriya couldn't hold back the excitement in his voice when he replied.</p><p>"Are... are you asking to be my <em>companion?</em>" Bakugou's face tinted just that little bit more red as he put to memory the tiniest details of the horizon. A bland, off-white sky made up of nothing but clouds; blocking any sunlight from striking them.</p><p>"...<em>Yes</em>, you can be my companion on this adventure, Kacchan- and <em>yes</em>, it's actually worth your time. If things go well, we'll get ourselves an authentic exam bot!" <em>That</em> snapped Bakugou out of his embarrassment.</p><p>"Wait, <em>what? </em>How the hell did you find <em>that?"</em> With a short smirk, Midoriya fished his phone from his pocket, before unlocking it and passing it to Bakugou- who took it with fervour; any and all embarrassment he had been previously feeling gone as he scrolled through the messages on display.</p><p>"I managed to get into contact with a guy called Sako Iijinawa; the dude has a quirk that lets him turn whatever he touches into a playing card. Apparently he tried out for UA two years ago, but they didn't let him in because of a technicality."</p><p>"Oh yeah? What's that?" Bakugou mumbled in response, only half paying attention.</p><p>"Back when he tried out for UA, the rule was that you had to destroy a robot to get a point; turning one off or just disabling one didn't count. So, even though he got one of the highest scores for that year, none of those points counted since the robots hadn't been <em>destroyed</em>, just turned into cards. If he'd've ripped the cards apart afterwards <em>then</em> he'd've gotten in, but because he didn't, he got no points at all." Midoriya explained, flapping his hands about.</p><p>Glancing up at him from over the top of the phone, Bakugou frowned.</p><p>"So what, they just let him <em>keep</em> the bots afterwards?"</p><p>"That's what he <em>says</em>," Midoriya stated, pointing to the phone. "But you're right to be suspicious. Everything about this deal screams 'shady'- especially when you take a look a just where he wants to meet..." Looking back down at the phone, Bakugou quickly flicked through the messages until he found the address Midoriya had been given.</p><p>"Wait, but, isn't that-"</p><p>"-At the heart of the Hats and Wands territory?" Bakugou frowned at being cut off, but otherwise made no comment.</p><p>"Yes, it is..." The confirmation only making his frown deeper, Bakugou locked the phone and handed it back to Midoriya; before leaning back on his palms.</p><p>"This is dangerous, Deku... Even for me, this shit's dangerous; I'm powerful, but power means nothing compared to experience. The Hats and Wands have been around for years; are you sure you wanna go through with this?" Unable to meet Bakugou's eyes, Midoriya picked back up the soldering iron from his side and just stared at it; watching as the heat given form wafted up into the air.</p><p>"I have to, Kacchan; getting into the Hero course is the only way I'm going to get closer to achieving my dream, and if that means I've got to do some dangerous stuff to get there, then I guess I've got to do some dangerous stuff. I <em>will be</em> the Doctor, Kacchan- and I refuse to let any<em>one</em> or any<em>thing</em> tell me otherwise." When Midoriya finally did turn to meet Bakugou's eyes, the blond almost flinched at the fire he saw in them. </p><p>"Even if this plan falls through; even if this <em>adventure</em> is a <em>bust</em>, I'll find some other way! I could get into the Support course and then transfer; I could apply for <em>GenEd</em> and then transfer; I could-!"</p><p>"I get it, Deku!" Bakugou snapped, interrupting Midoriya's rant. Midoriya's head shot back to Bakugou at the harsh tone; his gaze having started to wander as he gave his speech- however where years of habit had him expecting next to get hit, instead he saw Bakugou hadn't even gotten up off of his palms.</p><p>"I get it, Deku." Bakugou repeated, this time his voice softer. Midoriya let go a breath he didn't even remember holding, and gently, he place the soldering iron back onto the ground.</p><p>"I'll help you get that bot... But-" Before Bakugou could finish speaking, the school bell rang; the loud, irritating and grating noise echoing around the roof- and so with a sigh, the two locked eyes, before standing.</p><p>"I'll text you the details later, but if you don't show up by seven I'm leaving without you." Grabbing their individual bags, Bakugou begrudgingly slipped his still wet gakuran on over his shirt, and Midoriya pulled the case for the soldering iron out to start putting away his tools.</p><p>"Yeah yeah, I'll see you around Doctor Deku," Bakugou waved off, pulling open the roof door and walking away; off to continue his streak of perfect attendance. Honestly, the fact that he has the <em>audacity</em> to call other people nerds...</p><p>Midoriya shook his head at the thought, stifling a laugh- though when he had gotten all of his equipment tidied and put away, he couldn't help the excited fist-pump he gave at his success. He not only had an adventure to go on, but he had also acquired a companion!</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Midoriya let it go through his mouth; watching as the condensation rose into the air with a passive interest. His red converse trainers scraped the floor as he lifted and pulled back a leg in order to rest it against the old brick wall behind him, and the sidewalk was wet; everything was, really; leaving the world to glisten under the dirty yellow streetlights that lined the area.</p><p>Inside the pocket of his brown, striped blazer the prototype of the EMB hung heavy, and though it stuck out like a sore thumb due to it's sheer size, it didn't bother Midoriya in the slightest. He had bigger things on his mind, after all. A scuffle of trainers to his left caught his attention, and it was with relief that Midoriya laid eyes on Bakugou when he turned to the source.</p><p>Bakugou too was dressed up for the adventure, though where Midoriya had gone with a Tennent classic, Bakugou had opted for an actual, legitimate disguise. He had on black practically everything; the only exceptions being the set of knee pads fastened over his combat trousers, as well as the lower-face mask covering his mouth and nose; both of which were coloured a warning orange. Additionally, much to Midoriya's fascination, had also chosen to cover his hair with a beanie; flattening his normally expressive locks over his forehead.</p><p>Midoriya shot him a teasing smile, and Bakugou rolled his eyes with a groan.</p><p>"Look, call this an 'adventure' all you want, it's still <em>extremely</em> shady, and <em>probably</em> illegal; I'm not going to ruin my perfect fucking record, <em>and</em> jeopardize getting into UA, for <em>you!"</em> He drawled, crossing his arms.</p><p>With an exhale of sharp air from his nose; amused, Midoriya kicked himself away from the wall as Bakugou moved to stand by his side- and with a shake of his head, Midoriya began to walk away; letting Bakugou follow at his own pace.</p><p>"Hey, you didn't <em>have</em> to come; you were the one that asked to be my companion, remember?" Midoriya shot back.</p><p>"I didn't <em>ask</em> shit; you just fucking <em>assumed; </em>thinking you can fucking <em>read</em> me or some shit!" Bakugou growled, lightly shoulder-checking Midoriya and causing the boy to stumble; nearly losing his footing entirely due to the pavement's dampened traction.</p><p>"But, Kacchan, if I was <em>wrong,"</em> Midoriya began, stumbling his way back into a regular walk. "Then why are you<em> here?"</em> He finished, levelling the blond with as cocky a smirk as he could manage. Glaring at Midoriya, Bakugou picked up a hand to threaten the boy in question with an explosion, only to be spritzed before his hand even reached shoulder-level.</p><p>The spritzed boy blinked twice, not quite understanding what had actually happened, however when he turned to Midoriya for answers, and he saw the boy holding a squeezy bottle he had gotten from fuck-knows where; an unamused stare replacing his cocky grin, the answer became extremely obvious.</p><p>"No. Bad Kacchan. No explodo-killing people." Midoriya chided, as if Bakugou were some mangy house-cat. Midoriya, of course, had turned and begun walking away just as quickly as he had stopped; leaving Bakugou unable to actually <em>react</em> to his spritzing- and so with a gritting of his teeth, and a repression of his anger, Bakugou began once again following him; aggressively trying to rub away the liquid anti-perspirant coating his face.</p><p>And, well, if he was stomping his feet a little harder than necessary for the rest of their walk, neither of them said anything about it.</p><p>"Also, while we're out here, don't fucking call me 'Kacchan', you got that? It's a shit name normally, but it's also unique; <em>identifiable;</em> just don't fucking address me by name at all- and if you have to, use some random shit that won't be traced back to me, alright?!" Bakugou grumpily advised, glaring straight ahead as they moved further out of the residential district, and further <em>into</em> the industrial district.</p><p>"...You're really paranoid about this whole thing, aren't you?" Midoriya replied after a few beats, shooting his friend a glance of concern.</p><p>"Shut the fuck up you useless, pathetic, waste of a human life; I'm not fucking <em>paranoid</em> okay? Fucking pile of shit; don't fucking <em>insinuate</em> shit about me, asshole. Why in the fuck would I ever be <em>paranoid</em> about some pussy ass shit like<em> this?"</em> Bakugou snarled back; his murmurs gradually growing louder until he was basically fighting to stop himself from screaming in the middle of the street. Though, whether that was because it was late and he wanted to be courteous- or whether it was because he didn't want to draw attention to himself, Midoriya couldn't say.</p><p>"You know that lashing out when I guess something right about you only confirms my guess, right?" Bakugou, predictably, didn't respond to that.</p><p>"And for the record, you're <em>right</em> to be paranoid, you know? We're walking alone at night into an area of the city controlled by a known vigilante group, after lying to both of our parents about where we actually are- in order to meet up with a guy from the internet selling what is <em>potentially</em> contraband. If you <em>weren't</em> being paranoid, I'd be worried."</p><p>"Yeah, well then why aren't <em>you</em> paranoid?" Bakugou snapped.</p><p>"Oh, don't get me wrong, I <em>am </em>paranoid right now. I'm also <em>completely</em> terrified, <em>and</em> afraid... but do you know why I'm not worried about that?" Raising an eyebrow, Bakugou glanced slightly in Midoriya's direction, before returning to staring directly ahead of them; still hyper-alert.</p><p>"Because fear... <em>fear </em>is a <em>super-power</em>. Fear can make you <em>faster</em> and <em>cleverer</em> and<em> stronger.</em> Your heart is beating so hard, you can feel it through your hands; so much blood and oxygen is pumping through your brain; it's like rocket fuel. You can jump higher than ever in your life, and you're so alert, it's like you can slow down <em>time</em>. When you are <em>truly</em> scared, between you and whatever has you scared, <em>you</em> are the most dangerous thing there..." The two stopped walking again as Midoriya finished speaking; silence falling over them. Turning fully, at last, to look at Midoriya- Bakugou saw him grinning with a thousand watts; his arms wide open in presentation. And so with a sigh, Bakugou looked to the pavement.</p><p>"That was a fucking Doctor Who reference, wasn't it?"</p><p>"Yeah, for the most part!" Midoriya shrugged.</p><p>"...God I fucking hope you get kidnapped..." Bakugou groaned, lifting his head back up with a shake as he proceeded to walk away; allowing himself a short chuckle when Midoriya scoffed in offence behind him; quickly jogging to catch up.</p><p>"I can <em>not</em> believe you; I go through all the trouble of memorising and relaying some of the Doctor's most <em>inspiring </em>words in order to try and make you feel better- and this is the thanks I get? Some hero <em>you</em> are..." Midoriya snarked back, relishing the in the glare Bakugou sent his way in response.</p><p>The two didn't speak much after that; content to merely walk in silence as they weaved between streets; ever-nearing their destination at the heart of the complex. The industrial district looked far less aesthetically pleasing than Musutafu's residential area, though that was probably an obvious assumption.</p><p>Where in the residential area of the prefecture, streets were lined with beautifully crafted houses; public gardens were common-place, and the streets themselves were kept almost unnaturally clean- in the industrial district, you'd be lucky to see even a patch of street not covered by some form of filth. Buildings were not intricately crafted homes- or tall cinderblock-styled apartment complexes like the ones the Midoriyas lived in, but were instead cast-corrugated-iron shells; each one identical to the next; differentiated only by the amount of smog coming from the roofs.</p><p>You also couldn't see the sky during the day, which was quite depressing; especially for those whose jobs it was to work in the area.</p><p>The Hats and Wands had taken unofficial control of the area quite some time ago now; making it their job to keep the streets 'crime free', as they themselves had put it. Though, it became quite clear quite quickly that 'crime free' meant '<em>unapproved</em>-crime free'. They're like the modern day Mafia, or the Yakuza in a sense if you're looking for an analogy; they take over an area with the promise of protecting the people there, only to extort them.</p><p>Turning a corner, Midoriya froze on the spot; snapping Bakugou out of his thoughts and prompting him to do the same, before quickly backing up and <em>forcing</em> Bakugou to do the same.</p><p>"Nerd, what's going on?" Bakugou hissed, pressing himself just as Midoriya was to the edge of the nearest warehouse.</p><p>Of <em>course</em>, the one moment he decides to zone out is the one moment when something important actually happens; his mother would have a field day if she could see how stupid he was being; letting his guard down like that.</p><p>"The warehouse we're meeting Sako at is <em>supposed</em> to be abandoned..."</p><p>"...And I'm guessing it's not?" Bakugou ventured, only receiving a nod in response.</p><p>"Switch places with me. Double-doors; second from the street-end on the opposite side of the road..." Midoriya mumbled, glancing back at Bakugou before sliding past him; letting him take point.</p><p>Poking his head around the corner, Bakugou's eyes instantly locked onto the building Midoriya had described. And it definitely wasn't abandoned. There was a van outside with it's engine running, and there were people dressed up in fancy clothes like waistcoats and flowing cloaks unloading non-descript crates out the back of it. </p><p>They couldn't look more suspicious if they tried<em>, </em>really. </p><p>The building was also producing smog, even if its lights were off, meaning there had to be even more people inside running all of the machinery.</p><p>"So, what do you wanna do? You made it pretty fucking clear that you need this robot. Can't you text the fucker and ask him what's going on?" Bakugou questioned, turning to Midoriya with a grimace.</p><p>"I would but... if we weren't meant to see this, and he knows we're here, that wouldn't exactly be <em>good</em>, would it? I mean, this guy is the <em>last</em> person we should be pissing off... bar maybe his father..." Ignoring how Bakugou froze at what to Midoriya was an offhanded comment, the boy in question pulled his phone from inside his blazer pocket, and with his fingerprint unlocked it.</p><p>"I'm going to see if I somehow got the address wrong, but I really don't think I did..."</p><p>"Dek-" Midoriya looked up at Bakugou from his phone. "...Uh, <em>Doctor</em>, what do you mean by 'he's the last person we should be pissing off'? Isn't he just some snot-nosed whiny brat?" This time it was Midoriya's turn to freeze, though he only froze for a moment.</p><p>"Bak- Uh... No? You recognise the name, don't you? 'Sako'?" Gently, Bakugou shook his head.</p><p>"Sako Iijinawa? Son of Sako <em>Atsuhiro?"</em> Bakugou's face remained both expectant and blank.</p><p>"Son of <em>Mr. Compress?"</em> This time, Bakugou's reaction was both instant and violent. His eyes blew wide, and his face flicked between thousands of micro-expressions all at once; confusion; anger... mainly just different versions of anger, really- though, surprisingly, there was also a little bit of fear mixed in there.</p><p><strong>"Fucking <em>wha-"</em></strong>The 't' came out muffled against Midoriya's hand, as the lanky teen slammed the two of them against the building they had been hiding against; the resulting bang of metal through the night sounding like a cross between a lightning strike and an explosion. The bold action on Midoriya's part stunned Bakugou enough that he didn't immediately react with an <em>actual</em> explosion, and the close proximity of their bodies pushed any thoughts of setting one off permanently out of his mind.</p><p>"SHHHH!" Midoriya hissed; his own eyes blown wide, though where Bakugou's had been out of more-so anger, Midoriya's were out of more-so fear. His head had also, as he was pushing Bakugou, swivelled to stare at the end of the street; alert as a hawk as he watched for any sign of movement; his phone left forgotten clutched in his only free hand.</p><p>The echoes of the bang faded out relatively quickly into the night, but even when it did, and no other noise followed it- Midoriya did not un-tense; he did not remove his hand from Bakugou's masked mouth, and he did not even so much as blink. Because, as Midoriya knew- and as Bakugou soon caught on to, the night should not have returned to absolute silence.</p><p>It should have returned to <em>relative </em>silence.</p><p>The van's engine was no-longer running.</p><p>The streets were cold, wet, and empty; void of all noticeable life; the only discernible noise being the pounding of their hearts and shakiness of their breaths...</p><p>They'd been noticed.</p><p>An explosive flash of purple lit up the area around them mere seconds later, originating from right where Midoriya was staring; particles the same purple colour being pushed out from the very same source point, before all to quickly the light disappeared, and there stood one of the men they had spied moments earlier. </p><p>Dressed to the nines like he was about to pull a rabbit from a hat, and a pocket-watch chain being visibly draped through the pocket of his waistcoat, the unidentified vigilante smiled.</p><p>"Well then..." He spoke, his voice a rotten honey. "I suppose tonight's dress rehearsal shall have an audience..."</p>
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